Red Wings pursued defenseman Shea Weber, but missed out on another top player

Ansar Khan | MLive.comDefenseman Shea Weber will get $110 million over the next 14 years, but will it be from Nashville or Philadelphia?

After missing out on unrestricted free agent Ryan Suter, the Detroit Red Wings turned their attention to his former Nashville defense partner, restricted free agent Shea Weber, in their effort to fill the gaping hole on their blue line.

Philadelphia, on Wednesday, signed Weber to a 14-year, $110 million offer sheet.

Once again, the Red Wings tried to reel in a big fish but were left lamenting the one that got away. Add Weber to the list that includes Suter, Zach Parise and, in all likelihood, Rick Nash, as there appears to be little chance Columbus will trade its franchise player to Detroit. The Red Wings remain in the hunt for power forward Shane Doan, but he's hoping to re-sign with Phoenix.

Big, talented and tough, Weber, a finalist for the Norris Trophy the past two seasons, would have been the best possible replacement for Nicklas Lidstrom, even better than Suter.

Now, Weber likely will never be a Red Wing.

Nashville has seven days to match the offer. It's a lot to absorb for a small-market team (he will get $27 million, mostly in bonuses, within the next 12 months), but the Predators have little choice but to bite the bullet and match it, especially after losing Suter to the Minnesota Wild on July 4.

If Nashville matches, it can't trade him for one year, as per the collective bargaining agreement. There are conflicting reports as to whether the offer sheet contains a no-trade clause. But, after investing $27 million in a player for one year, it hardly makes sense to move him the second year.

In the end, the Flyers might have simply facilitated a deal between Weber and Nashville. It's a huge investment, with a lot of up-front money, but a $7.85 million cap hit is pretty good for a player of his stature.

Trading for Weber was never a viable option for the Red Wings, contrary to a TSN report. The Predators had no intention of dealing him to their Central Division rival and no trade talks took place.

Detroit's only options of landing Weber were to sign him to an offer sheet, with the hopes Nashville would not match, taking the compensation instead (up to four first-round draft picks), or hope that Weber signed a one-year deal with the Predators and became unrestricted in 2013.

But, the new CBA could feature a lower salary cap, a limit on the length of contracts and an increased age for unrestricted free agency. So Weber was wise to get his mega deal while he could.

The Red Wings have ample salary cap space (roughly $13 million) but have not yet been able to fill their primary needs – a top-four defenseman and a top-six forward. Options are extremely limited.

The Red Wings, under general manager Ken Holland, have never tendered an offer sheet to a restricted free agent. They have no team policy against it, but seem to feel it does nothing but inflate prices for others and is pointless (of the six previous offer sheets tendered to a restricted free agent since the lockout in 2004-05, only one team did not match – Anaheim took three draft picks from Edmonton for Dustin Penner in 2007).

Plus, with the deep unrestricted free agent classes of the past and a talented roster, the Red Wings didn't need to explore the Group II route.

But, times have changed in the parity-laden NHL.

That is why the Red Wings explored the possibility of signing Weber to an offer sheet. Once again, they believe they gave it a good shot but were left with nothing to show for it.